By heading back to the Styrian Mountains in Spielberg in 2014, F1 returned to one of the classic old school circuits.
And with an emotional return to Austria after the recent death of F1 legend Niki Lauda, let’s look into 5 memorable moments from the Austrian Grand Prix:
5: 1999 Austrian Grand Prix – McLaren’s come to blows
With Ferrari’s main title challenger Michael Schumacher out with a broken leg, McLaren’s Mika Hakkinen looked set to press home his championship advantage.
However, despite taking pole, his lead would last just 2 corners.
McLaren teammate David Coulthard attempted a move into Turn 2, but clipped the back of Hakkinen, spinning him round and sending him to the back.
The race was won by Eddie Irvine’s Ferrari, Coulthard in 2nd while Hakkinen recovered back to 3rd.
4: 1975 Austrian Grand Prix – Brambilla finishes in style
Vittorio Brambilla took his one and only career victory at the 1975 Austrian Grand Prix.
Driving for March, the Italian mastered the wet weather to win by 27 seconds over McLaren’s James Hunt.
Most memorable of his victory is his crash just seconds after taking the chequered flag.
And despite some confusion on whether the race would be restarted, the 37 year old took his only Grand Prix win.
3: 2014 Austrian Grand Prix – Williams return to the top
For the first time in 11 years, Williams locked out the front row of a Grand Prix.
Brazilian Felipe Massa took his first pole in 6 years, piping teammate Valtteri Bottas.
And despite leading the race early on, both Williams were passed by the two Mercedes.
Both Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton managed to undercut the Williams to take 1st and 2nd.
At the chequered flag, Bottas finished P3 and Massa P4, something that looks a world away in 2019.
2: 2002 Austrian Grand Prix – Controversy at Ferrari
The 2002 Austrian Grand Prix saw controversy on the final lap for Ferrari.
Brazilian Rubens Barrichello had led the majority of the race, ahead of teammate Michael Schumacher.
However, on the final lap, Ferrari ordered Rubens to let Michael through to take the win and get the maximum championship points.
Barrichello yielded across the line, which infuriated the Austrian crowd, who made their opinions known.
On the podium, Schumacher gave Rubens the winners trophy and made him stand on the top step.
Barrichello had given up 2nd place to Schumacher the previous year at Austria, and revealed Ferrari had threatened to end his career if he didn’t move over for Michael.
In 2017, Ross Brawn admitted that the entire incident had been a mistake.
1: 2016 Austrian Grand Prix – Silver Arrows clash on last lap
The tense relationship between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg at Mercedes, hit its peak at the 2016 Austrian Grand Prix.
Heading onto the final lap, Rosberg led Hamilton, who had started on pole but dropped behind in the pit stops.
Rosberg was on worn supersoft tyres while Hamilton was on soft tyres in a better condition.
Through Turn 1, Rosberg took too much inside curb, allowing Hamilton to get a run on him towards Turn 2.
Side-by-side into Turn 2, Rosberg defended aggressively and the pair collided.
Hamilton went wide and Rosberg broke his front wing, which disintegrated towards turn 3.
Hamilton passed the limping Rosberg, who also lost out to Max Verstappen’s Red Bull and Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari.
After the race, Mercedes Director of Motorsport Toto Wolff was furious, declaring he was “fed up” with his drivers colliding.
